Today was the 20th annual Stone Harbor Lions Club 10k & 5k run. I spectated this event last year ... I had thoughts of running it then, but it was too damn hot and humid. I vividly remember last year being thankful that I was not running.
This year, the weather seemed a bit better - a warm start.. with temps in the mid-70s and the humidity as it always is on the Jersey shore in mid-August. The course itself is pretty boring - a flat out and back with a few turns and virtually NO SHADE. I knew it wasn't going to be fun and it wasn't. I had a bit of that tightness in my right lower leg for the first two miles. It was to the point where I was about to stop and stretch, but I just ran through it and, eventually, it went away.
The hardest part about this race was not veering off to the right to go into the 5k finishers chute versus going left to the 10k turn around. It would have been so easy... and the beach is just a block away... I could have kept running... beach tags be damned. If they wanted to chase me into the ocean, they could have done that.
But, of course, I didn't. I stayed the course... taking water at just about every water station - and there were several, thankfully. Finished in 54:14 - a time which neither impressed or displeased me. I was simply glad to be done and proud that I didn't beg off at the 5k point.
A special thanks to Bill and Ilene for their hospitality and letting Seebo and I crash at their place Saturday night. Nothing like watching the Olympic marathon, eating pasta, and not having to wake up at the crack of dawn to drive two hours to run for less than one. And it was nice to get one last dip in the ocean before the summer ends.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment